Regardless of blame, the facts remain: fatal crashes involving motor vehicles in Colorado have increased 30.1% since 2014, with a 12% increase in pedestrian deaths from 2016 to 2017. When it comes to Colorado’s car accident fatalities, what is fact, and what is fiction? Here, we look at the data and see what traffic myths we can debunk about car accident fatalities in Colorado.

So what myths can we debunk?

We can agree that texting and driving isn’t significant enough to account for Colorado’s dramatic increase in fatalities as compared to the national decrease. Although cell phone usage is up nationally, motor vehicle accident fatalities are down nationally.

Myth #2: Education is the answer.

In Colorado, motor vehicle accident fatalities occur in urban areas 58% of the time, so cities are clearly the problematic areas. This also makes sense that drivers travel fewer miles before getting into accidents. Car accidents in rural areas are low, which insinuates that education is not the answer since the accidents are not dispersed throughout the state of Colorado like they are in other states. Additionally, no supporting evidence exists for the effectiveness of education.

Myth #3: Colorado’s growth rate is responsible for the increase in fatalities.

What we, and the city, can do

The city

The city of Denver is taking action. You can read more about the city’s plans here and here. The focus of these plans involve the highway improvements mentioned above, but also leveraging public transportation and ease of mobility for pedestrians walking or riding bikes.

You

It is the city’s goals to eradicate all traffic deaths by 2030. You can help.

Don’t drive under the influence. This is clearly a problem on Colorado roads.

Advocate for change. Help fund the city’s plans to improve Denver roads, encourage others to do the same, and hold the CDOT accountable.

RATE THIS POST

1 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5

Loading...

Share:

About the Author

Steve Roberts

Steve Roberts is the managing attorney at the Law Office of Steve Roberts, LLC. Steve is originally from Omaha, Nebraska. After law school in Southern California, he moved to Denver, Colorado where he has developed his personal injury practice and become part of the Colorado legal community as a member of the Colorado Trial Lawyers Association and the Thompson G. Marsh Inn of Court. Read More